MY GARDEN to such perfection within the last fifty years, 

 we can understand the passionate quest for 

 the perfect flower. 



The science of floriculture has done much to 

 enhance the beauty of the garden. Many of 

 the most beautiful flowers are products of 

 cross-breeding by expert botanists. New flow- 

 ers and new forms of old flowers are constantly 

 being bred in the hothouses of Europe and 

 America. Not only the forms of the flowers, 

 but the colors and markings are being changed. 

 The skill of the hybridist is adding to our gar- 

 dens new delights. 



Look at a bed of Shirley poppies and recall 

 how that strain was developed from the one 

 white-marked flower discovered by the vicar 

 of Shirley in a field scarlet with poppies, if you 

 would have some notion of what is being done 

 in the way of making the flowers more beau- 

 tiful. 



It is well that the amateur take not too con- 

 fidingly the descriptions of "novelties" in the 

 catalogues of the growers, but to know how 

 splendid the novelties sometimes are, you need 

 only look at a trellis covered with the orchid- 



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